“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” the third movie in the teen-vampire series, generated record sales of more than $30 million from midnight showings in US and Canadian theaters.

“Eclipse” surpassed the previous record of $26.3 million set last year by “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the second film in the franchise based on Stephenie Meyer’s books, producers Summit Entertainment said yesterday.

The first two “Twilight” movies earned more than $1.1 billion in global ticket sales. “Eclipse” may take in as much as $175 million over the five days ending July 4, based on the estimate of Jeffrey Hartke of the Hollywood Stock Exchange.